Tribute to a legendary Peterite sportsman – Anton Perera

The 80th Josephian-Peterite encounter started at the Colombo Oval on Friday. A time for the Joes and Peterites to revel and enjoy the sport and the camaraderie that is associated with this great sporting event. The ‘Battle of the Saints’ was inaugurated in 1933, and has produced many a legend that went on to play nationally. Names that come to mind are Clive Inman, H.I.K. Fernando, David Heyn, Roy Dias, Vinodhan John, Tony Opatha, Russell Arnold, Rumesh Ratnayaka, Amal Silva, Kaushal Lokuarachchi, and Angelo Perera for the Peterites and Chaminda Vaas, Ashley de Silva, Ajith Weerakkody, Michael Van Dort, Dimuth Karunaratne, Thisara Perera and our current Sri Lanka skipper Angelo Mathews for the Josephians. These stars have gone that extra bit and crowned themselves with glory to represent our great nation in cricket. Congratulations to all.

There are hordes of other talented cricketers who represented their Alma Mater over the years, but never made it to the national team due to numerous reasons. Talent was never in question for these players, but it was a question of timing – after all, only eleven can play in a team. Space does not permit me to name these players as this article is dedicated to a superstar who sadly passed away last month. Anton Perera played for St. Peter’s College from 1957-1960, both years included.

Anton Perera was a household name in the late fifties and early sixties. An intensely talented all-round sportsman, Anton broke into the limelight in 1957, as an athlete and cricketer. He was only 15 years old at the time. Anton was a legend at St. Peter’s College. He was one of the most celebrated sports icons who left an indelible mark on the Peterite landscape as a talented athlete, exceptional cricketer who also played rugby until his coach Jackie van Twest advised him not to play as it would hurt his athletics. Anton was also a good Tennis player and I am not quite sure if he represented college, at the Public Schools Championships. His father was a Tennis player of national repute.

Blessed with a strong physique – Anton captained the Under-16 athletics team of his Alma Mater to win the Junior Tarbat Trophy at the All-Island Schools Athletic Championships. He was a Public School champion in the Discus, Javelin and Putt Shot. He also performed well in the 100 metres and did the sprint relays. This was a time the Peterites had a crack athletic team. He captained the Junior Athletics Team in 1957 which went on to win the Junior Tarbat at the Public Schools Championships. Desmond Moraes, Rontjen Perera and Linus Jayawardane (since departed) were the other members of the team. Some names of Peterite athletes during his time that come to mind are Ranjit Wijeyesekere, Ranjit Weerasena, David Van Dort, Errol de Silva, brothers Andrew & Godfrey Goonetilleke, Rontjen Perera, Neville Salvador, E.L. Fernando, N.B. Wilson, Didacus de Almeida, Roger Wright, Kevin Ruberu, Vinitha Rakajaruna, Elmo Perera, Carlyle Rudolph, Ranjith Alwis, brothers Winston & Stafford Tambimuttu, and a host of others of repute who later joined Ace Athletic Club or CT & FC.

But it was Cricket that Anton was best known for. His baptism into the First XI was in 1957, at the age of 15 – under the captaincy of Jayantha Fernando. In the big match, Anton clean bowled opener Claude Perera and then took out two prolific Josephian batsmen Priya Perera and Tissa de Soysa. He had match figures of 3 for 69 in his first big match that was drawn. St. Peter`s were captained by Russel Duckworth in 1958, Brian Seneviratne in 1959, and Premasiri Athukorale in 1960. I cannot remember which year, but Anton caused a sensation at the SPC Vs. Ananda game. He took 8 wickets for 21 and at least six Ananda players were injured. Following year, the Peterites had a rough time at Campbell Place when they met Ananda. I believe Police were at hand to ensure no brawls took place. During this time, he was rated the fastest Schoolboy bowler in Ceylon with Ananda`s Sonny Yatawara coming a close second. Anton’s opening partners were Maurice Deckker (1960), Desmond Dharmaraja (1958 & 1959) and Anton Paulpillai (1957). Anton best partnered with Maurice Deckker when the Peterites had the most fiery opening bowling attack at the time in school cricket.

Cricket at St. Peter`s enjoyed a great period in the 50s and 60s – there was a galaxy of stars who represented the school by the canal. Anton`s team mates who played alongside him are David Muthumani, Nihal Wijesena, Darrel De Silva, Jayantha Fernando, Brian Seneviratne, Russel Duckworth, Lakshman Serasinghe, Premasiri Athukorale, Christy Marthalingam, Anton Paulpillai, Randy Layman, Adiel Anghie, Desmond Dharmaraja, Elmo Gunasekara, Richard Alles, Mark de Silva, Richard Heyn, Tyrone Le Mercier, Maurice Deckker, and Didacus de Almeida.

Anton played Club Cricket briefly for SSC whilst in school and would have certainly played for All-Ceylon had he not left for California in 1962 at the age of 20. He lived in the San Fernando Valley in Southern California with his wife Marlene and their three children. He was involved in developing and promoting cricket in Southern California in the sixties and played locally with Dr. Tony Don Michael (another Peterite), Thomian Dr. M.L. Idroos (STC), Dr. C. Balakrishnan (Jaffna Hindu), and a host of other players who made California their home in the post-sixties.

He is survived by his beloved wife of 51 years – Marlene, son Yohan (Joey) and two daughters Sharlene and Sheryl and eight grandchildren. A memorial service for the repose of his soul was held on Saturday, March 1, 2014, at St. Bernadine’s Church in Woodland Hills, California. The service, from all accounts was a celebration of the life and times of a great sportsman – Anton Perera!

A quote from Abraham Lincoln: "And in the end it is not the years in your life that count, It’s the life in your years." Anton enjoyed a lot of life in his years. He was a good family man, an exceptional human being, loyal to his multitude of friends and a very good Catholic to his dying days.

Courtesy: Text and Pictures by Rangi Akbar
National Discus Champion while a schoolboy

Ranjith Weerasena as he is now

Ranjith Weerasena first won the national discus title as a schoolboy at St. Peter’s in 1959 and successfully defended the title for ten consecutive years. During these years St. Peter’s dominated the Tarbat Schools Athletic Championships.These thoughts raced through my mind as I set out to meet former discus champion Ranjith Weerasena after several years at his residence in Colpetty.

I tried to recollect the memories I had of him. Kind to the point of being embarrassing, polite and ever willing to help, Ranjith’s present plight of being partly paralysed was first told to me by M.G.M.S. Zurfick, the former motorcycle champion. Then and there I made it a point to meet him but the meeting took place much, much later.

Ranjith’s second wife Asoka met me at the entrance of their modest flower arrangement parlour. Then it struck me that Ranjith had a penchant for interior decorating and was quite successful at it in the past. Asoka whisked me to meet Ranjith who was lying flat on a bed. With a little bit of effort from his ’Man Friday’ Buddhika, Ranjith sat up. He was pleased to see me after so many years. He is still his burly self and his wife said that he is now 71 years old.

I asked Asoka (nee Samarawickrema) now Weerasena how she had met Ranjith.

“It was at a function. Ranjith had expressed his desire to meet me. He has said that I resembled his first wife Dr. Sumana Weerasena (a dentist) who passed away in the year 2000.”

With a little bit of egging and a lot of help from Asoka, I managed to get Ranjith to speak about his sporting past.

He had been an outstanding discus thrower at St. Peter’s and had later represented Sri Lanka at several Asian Games. He has represented his club Ace Athletic Club as a schoolboy in 1956 in an Asian meet where he had struck Gold.

Ranjith the champion discus thrower in the 60s

His residence has seen many Old Peterite gatherings in the past and they still linger in the memories who had attended them.

He had been the chairman of the Sri Lanka Olympic Committee in 1980-81 after the late sprinter Julian Grero. He has taken part in several Indo-Ceylon meets and the Singapore Championships with great success. He had even given a helping hand to some of Sri Lanka’s outstanding athletes such as S.L.B. Rosa, K.G. Badra and Wimaladasa to ensure their success.

Switching his role he had been a founder member of the Sri Lanka Veteran’s Athletic Association with hurdler Vijitha Wijesekera and Halaldeen, the sprinter from Wattala in 1980.

Ranjith is a Life member of the Veteran’s Athletic Association and he has a Golden Pin to show for his efforts.

Ranjith was also President of the Amateur Athletic Association (AAA). He recalls happily how President Mahinda Rajapaksa was a member of the AAA. He says that he had even helped athletes such as Susanthika Jayasinghe and Sriyani Kulawansa to get them off the starting blocks in their respective athletic careers.

Asoka is no stranger to sports. She has played netball for Kegalle MV and hockey at District level for Kegalle in 1976. She took me around their spacious abode and to a special place in the sitting room where pictures, certificates and trophies won by Ranjith were adorned.

I would class Ranjith amongst the best Peterite sportsmen I have met and they include the late Archibald Perera, the Paternott brothers – Rodney and Hamish – the late Darrel Wimalaratne, Richard and David Heyn, Royden De Silva, the late Jeffrey De Jong, Roy Dias and Rumesh Ratnayake.

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Courtesy of Rangi Akbar – The Sunday Times of October 7, 2012)
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Priya Perera – the former Josephian, University and All Ceylon all-rounder

BY MERRIL Gunaratne

KNOWN affectionately as Priya, I first made his acquaintance in 1960 at cricket practices in the University. Competition for places in the University team to play in the Saravanamuttu Trophy Tournament then was fierce, given the extent to which talent was prodigious.

HIK Fernando, DH de Silva, Brendon Gooneratne, Thurairajah, late Ranjith Doranegama, Neil Chanmugam, Buddy Reid, Carlyle Perera were only a few of this galaxy. To fill the void left by the departing seniors in 1960, there were freshmen of almost equal repute.

Priya Perera, Nihal Gurusinghe, Mohanlal Fernando, Malsiri Kurukulasooriya, late Anton Rambukpotha, late NJS de Mel, Seneca De Chickera, late Thavaneetharajah are some of the names that come to mind.

Having not played any class of cricket in school days at St. Peter's College, Colombo, I had the rare fortune of securing a regular slot in the University team in 1960 alongside school giants of the class of Priya Perera, the former Josephian and combined schools Captain, Mohanlal Fernando, the Best Allrounder in schools from Ananda, and Nihal Gurusinghe, the batting star from S. Thomas College, Mt. Lavinia.

Those were the halcyon days when the University was a dominant force in premier cricket, displaying a penchant to defeat renowned teams of the class of SSC, NCC.

The acme of this golden era was when the University emerged as Sara Trophy Champions in 1963 under the astute captaincy of Carlyle Perera, after knocking at its doors in the previous 3 years.

The university's cricketing excellence continued into the late 60s like an unbroken thread, given the continuous talent which entered it in that decade. Mano Ponniah, Lareef Idroos, Sivananthan, Kingsley Fernando, Harsha Samarajeeva, Cyril Ernest, Nanda Senanayake stamped their imprint on the championship team of 1963.

Yet later arrived Mevan Peiris, Sarath Wimalaratne and Sarath Seneviratne to sustain the quality of excellence University then displayed at Cricket.

Priya Perera had entered the University with a giant reputation in the school days for his exceptionally outstanding exploits in batting, bowling, fielding and astute captaincy.

I had the fortune of moving with him closely in the team, particularly because he made me feel at ease in a star studded team playing premier-cricket, given the handicap I carried of being an "unknown" with no cricket background and laurels whatsoever to boast of.

He constantly offered tips and advice in an unobtrusive, friendly way, a kind of guidance from which I benefited immensely. Priya was therefore both a friend and guide to me. Priya unfortunately departed from this world rather tragically in the early 70's in London, when so young.

In recent times, I had seen numerous articles on past greats in the print media. This served as a stimulus to write about this great all rounder who occupied centre stage in the late 50s and 60s.

Priya's exploits as an All rounder at St. Joseph's, and then the University, were legion. Scoring 66 runs of a modest total of 173, and capturing 3 wickets in his very first outing for the University in 1960, Priya was blooded into the national team to play against Pakistan Eaglets by the selectors who considered him a wise investment. I also recall him playing in the national team against the West Indies in 1961.

It would be difficult to assess in what sphere of the game, batting or bowling, he was more talented and proficient; he was equally skilled at both. His height and long limbs accentuated the grace and artistry he displayed, be it in batting or bowling. He was the epitome of technical perfection. As an off spinner, he belonged to the classical genre, a connoisseur's delight.

He belonged to a vintage when off spinners assiduously practiced virtues associated with this classic art: the high arm, flight, variation, guile, and the ball that does not turn, variously described as the floater or the arm ball.

The quality of Priya's bowling was enriched by a shrewd head, height, long limbs and fingers. The practice of this craft is for the crafty, for deception has necessarily to be in one's armoury to snare wickets on featherbeds. Priya did so with monotonous frequency.

Priya's off spin magic brings to mind nostalgic memories of other quality off spinners of his ilk; the one time Josephian SSC and Police great Neil Weerasinghe, and Abu Fuard, Lalith Kaluperuma, and Neil Chanmugam of all Ceylon repute. It is unfortunate that their classical action has not been captured on celluloid for worthy emulation by today's aspiring off spinners.

As a batsman, Priya was equally adept. I yet recall Priya walking out to bat, a casual, nonchalant glance at the sky to condition himself to the light, before prodding forward and back to technical perfection in order to get his eye in; and then his strokes began to cascade, not through brutish force, but caressingly. Priya's height and long limbs added lustre to his grace, artistry, and dominance over bowlers.

Priya on display held centre stage not only in batting and bowling, but in fielding as well. He was one of the most outstanding close in-fielders of the time, particularly in the gully region.

His long fingers often wrapped around the ball even after it seemingly had eluded and passed him, as happened when he caught out a West Indian batsman in the fixture Ceylon played against the West Indies in 1961.

And now to Priya the man. What impelled me to write about him is not merely to recapture his exceptional and unique career as a cricketer, but more to remember him for the pristine human qualities he was endowed with.

He was modest, gentle, cultured, unassuming and helpful to those in need, virtues of a good head and heart. I cannot forget him for easing me into the environment of top grade cricket, his shrewd cricketing brain then realizing that I required direction.

Those were the days unlike now, when even in a team, one stood in solitude on stage. It is this debt of gratitude in particular that makes me remember Priya as someone special.

The writer represented the University along with the late Priya Perera, in the Sara Trophy Cricket Tournament in the early 60s. He also played for Colts, NCC, Police, the State Services in the Quadrangular tournament and for the Central Province against the MCC XI led by Ted Dexter at Radella in 1962.

It has been almost 35 years since Sri Lanka came close to winning the Asiad. At this moment it is only fitting to bring to mind the only complete rugby player produced by Sri Lanka. No one can equal that record to-date. The great coach Archibald Perera moulded him at school but it was his inherent talent that finally prevailed.

Didacus de Almeida, a name synonymous with Rugby. Why was he a complete player? He had a head for the game and the speed of a Cheetah, could collect the ball clean under pressure and kick from any angle, frequently executing beautiful drop goals. His crunching tackles were feared by all players. He was a robust player who always played clean rugby.

What a game that was, the Asiad Final in 1974, when Sri Lanka were runners-up in the final to Japan. There were no IPLs, no dollar gains, only sheer commitment to the game and the love for the country. At the age of 18, right from school, Dida played for Sri Lanka continuously for over decade, which was a record. He was an inspiration to young players – A hero in their eyes!

The class of rugby dished out by Dida was entertaining; he never let the side down. With no quarter neither asked nor given, he sold the dummy on numerous occasions, frequently baffling the opponents and scored many tries for the Mecca of Rugby, his club, CR & FC.
We were in awe watching this player of class.

The London Welsh Team played in Sri Lanka with great rugby legends such as John Dawes, Gareth Davies and the mercurial J.P.R. Williams to name a few. Dida was the only player to score. He received a standing ovation from the crowd of more than 50,000 people. At the after party at the residence of the British High Commissioner that evening, he was the Toast.

Such was the player he was but never lost his head. He was a generous man to poor people. Dida married glamorous Minoli Perera from Milepost Avenue, Colombo 3 – the love of his life. She hails from an illustrious rugby playing family. Her father, Manning, played for CR & FC, his brother, Godwin, was the first Ceylonese to captain Ceylon during the British Era and his sister, the mother of the late C.V. Gunarathne, was rumoured to say that the British never tolerated locals in the clubhouse but that she was the only privy lady clad in a saree to cheer Ceylon, while sitting in the clubhouse, whom they respected.

Dida is blessed with a son and daughter. The son unfortunately could not follow his father’s passion due to the war and was sent to London to pursue his education after playing for his school Royal College. His daughter was an athlete of repute, possessing the same speed and style of her father and was a renowned sportswoman at Ladies College.

I am here from London to watch rugby. My sincere wish is that the Sri Lankan team plays hard, plays clean and does justice to greats like the late Dida.

Good luck boys – keep the flag on high especially when the world is not looking kindly towards Sri Lanka.

“Only Sports can level any Mindset “. Dida you must be watching the Rugby.

The Josephian – Peterite rugby encounter runs down to a proud history of 50 years.

Since its inception in 1955, the Joes have met the Petes on 51 occasions, out of which the Peterites have turned out victorious on 34 instances and the Joes managing to win only 12 games while the other 5 games ended up being drawn.

In the very 1st encounter between the schools in 1955 since the introduction of rugby at StJoseph’s by the very first Sri Lankan rector at St.Joseph’s Rev.Fr.Peter Pillai, the Peterites under the captaincy of Desmond Euphraims managed to win the game 3- 0 against Mahendra Dias’ Josephian outfit. The Josephians tasted victory for the very first time in 1958 when they beat the Peterites 13-0 under the leadership of C.J.Rajaratnam.

From there on they managed to win the games played in 1960, 1961 and 1962 which incidentally is their longest winning streak.

In 1963 a trophy was initiated as The Rev.Fr.Basil Wiratunga trophy. It was introduced by Mr. Carlo Martin a master at of St.Peter’s College. The captains being Stephen Alagaratnam and the Josephian captain being Ranjith Abeyratne who later went on to be a judge of the Supreme Court.

Since then the Josephians have managed to win the games played in 1968, 1978, 1983, 1987, 1988, 1991, 1998 and the last victory being in 1999. The highest score ever made by the Josephians were 27 – 03 which is incidentally the highest victory margin against the Peterites in a rugby match which is 24 points were also made in 1999 under the captaincy of Lakshitha Gunaratne who is the son of former Sri Lanka and Police rugby legend Rohan Gunaratne.

In the past the Josephians have had the privilege of having players in the likes of late Major Gen. Janaka Perera, brothers Nalin and Shamin Perera, Dinuk De. S.Wijeratne and Dhanushka Perera.

There have been 5 outings where there was no love lost between the two sides of which the first being in 1959 which ended up in an exciting draw with 3 points a piece. The encounter has ended in a 3 all draw on another two occasions which were in 1969 and 1992.

In 1980 the game had ended in a thrilling 6 all draw. Finally, when the Peterites were led by star winger Mohamed Renaz and the Joes taking the field under the captaincy of Rukshan Perera ended in an electrifying 18 all draw at the Royal College sports complex in 2004.

When looking at the performances put up by the Peterites, they have showed much more prowesses compared to the Josephians at the game of rugby by winning 34 of the 51 games played. This can be further depicted when taking a look at the performance put up by the unbeaten Peterite team which was led by Ranuka Jayasinghe in 2007 where they made minced meat out of the Josephians by scoring as much as 8 goals and 17 tries to reach the milestone of 101 points against the solitary try scored by the Josephians to leave the scoreboard reading 101-05 at the CR&FC.

The Peterites now hold the trophy with them for 9 years in a row which is by the way the longest by either of the teams. One would wonder that from 1968 to 1978 is also 9 years, since the Jopsephians were unable to field rugby teams from 1975 to 1977, the trophy was held by the Peterites only for 3 years.

The longest winning streak for the Peterites has been 5 years successively which they have achieved twice from 1963 to 1967 and 1993 to 1997. The Peterites have had the luxury of players in the past in the caliber of Didacus De Almeida, Frank Hubert, Angelo Wickramaratne, Len De Silva, Dilanka Wijesekera and Mohamed Renaz are just a few of the great rugby player that have been part of the Joe-Pete rugby encounter in the past.

With both teams having ups and downs this season an exciting game is on the cards this year. Will Dilshan Paul’s boys be able to make it 5 in a row for the third time? Or will the lads from Darley road be able to hold the trophy after a 10 years streak?

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Vice-Captain Shewon Fonseka scored a fighting century as St. Joseph’s College dominated their drawn game against Royal College in their 120th traditional game which concluded today at Darley road.

Resuming on 105 for 1, the Josephians went on to score 395 for 9 in 86 overs in reply to 291 which the visitors made earlier in the game. Wicket-keeper batsman Shewon Fonseka stroked a 109 ball 113 and opener Cameron Duruge made a classy 73 as the hosts completed the first innings win in style. Manula Perera finishing with a 5 wicket haul for the visitors.

Leg-spinner Dineth Jayakody’s efforts with ball in the second innings put Royal College in a spot of bother as they finished on 137 for 9.

A Special General Meeting of the St. Peter's College Old Boys' Union will be held on Thursday, 26th January 2017 at 6.30 p.m. at the Rev. Sr. Flora Hall, St. Peter's College, Colombo to accommodate concerns as to clarifications sought and in the interim to:

Render inoperative Clause 8 (i), (ii) and (iii) of the Constitution of the St. Peter’s College Old Boys’ Union (OBU) and Annexure ‘D’ along with the forms (Calling for Nomination Form and Character Evaluation Form) so as to make amendments to the said Constitution with regard to the appointment of a President.

Appoint a sub-committee to recommend amendments to the Constitution of the OBU or enactment of new provisions in relation to the election of the President of the OBU. This sub-committee will report back to the Committee of Management (COM). Once ratified by the COM, a Special General Meeting (SGM) will be summoned for the approval of the said amendments with the entire process being endeavoured for completion within a period of ninety (90) days.

Such Amendments once approved as aforestated, are expected to be operative for elections from 2018 onwards.

For purposes of clarification, the effect of the aforesaid non operation will bring into operation the previous provisions relating to the election of the President.

Miflal Ameen, Chathura Obeysekara and Sachin Silva took 3 each as St Peter’s registered a massive win by an innings and 10 runs against St Sebastian’s College in the Singer U19 Div I Cricket Tournament at St Peter’s College Grounds. Peter’s were cruising at stumps on day 1 at 289 for 6 and skipper Lakshina Rodrigo decided to make the declaration over night with a deficit of 210 in favour of them. The visitors had a daunting task ahead of them and coming back from a difficult first day, all odds were against them. Sebs made a few changes to their batting order in the second innings with Nuwanidu Fernando opening the batting with skipper Nimesh Bandara. After the damage the Peterite seamers did in the first innings, the pressure was on the openers but this time they responded well. The pair added 54 runs and most importantly managed to bat out 18 overs.

Miflal Ameen got the wicket of Nuwanidu for 22 and this wicket was followed by two more which put Sebastians 112 for 3 before lunch. Tharusha Fernando and Nimesh Bandara added 61 runs for the 4th wicket with skipper Nimesh scoring a fighting knock of 59 runs before he top edged an easy catch to Ranmith Jayasena at covers. Tharusha Fernando looked good for his brisk 44 but he also fell shortly afterwards thanks to brilliant catch by Santhush Gunathilake in the slips. Malintha Peiris and Tashik Perera were removed cheaply by Sachin which put the visitors 185 for 7 at tea. Dulaj Shalinda and Asher Warnakulasuriya fought hard and managed to occupy the crease for a period of 21 overs and it was Peterite main striker Miflal Ameen who cleaned up Asher from an absolute peach of a delivery. Dulaj held up one end facing 85 balls for his 10 runs but the two tail-enders fell shortly afterwards. Sebastian’s were bowled out for 200 runs in 74.5 overs which gave St Peter’s a massive win by an innings and 10 runs. Early on, Nimesh Bandara won the toss and elected to bat first. Santhush Gunathilaka and Shivaan Perera ripped apart the Sebastian batting line up within the first session, cleaning them up for a mere 79 runs. Shivaan bagged his first 5-for in the season while Santhush Gunathilake took 4 wickets from the other end. In reply, Peterites were in trouble early on with 3 wickets down for 31 but a magnificent partnership between Lakshina Rodrigo and Shalith Fernando helped the home side posted 289 for 6. The pair added 231 runs with skipper Lakshina Rodrigo scoring 138 runs off just 144 balls while Shalith missed out on his first century when he was dismissed for 94.

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January 11, 2017 – We are happy to note that there has been a remarkable increase of visitors to our site from January 1, 2017, in the last 11-days. This augurs well for this comprehensive site that captures the activities, events and history of two great Roman Catholic schools in Colombo – St. Joseph's College and St. Peter's College. We will also capture the history, activities and other news of JPAA Canada from 1984-2016. The editor (Upali Obeyesekere) of this site endeavours to capture news and information that matters most to the alumni of the two schools.